This course introduces students to the field of media
studies. Beginning with the printing press and ending with social media,
students will examine various media developments and eras and begin to
appreciate the complex interactions between media and larger cultural,
economic, political, and social conditions. Along the way, students will be
introduced to USF media studies professors and various media-making
opportunities on campus.

Upon completion of this course, students will:

oBe
able to “read” various media texts critically and creatively;

oBe
able to explain the key developments and social actors of media history;

oBe
able to explain how these developments were and continue to be embedded within
cultural, economic, political, and social conditions.

Course Costs

oAll
readings will be provided to you as PDFs or are available online for free.

oDocumentaries
like Stop the Presses and Women in Comedy are available for free
on Films on Demand via Gleeson Library’s web site.

oFor
class on February 5, you are required to purchase one print version of the San Francisco Chronicle. It will cost
between $1 and $1.50.

oFinally,
you are required, by April 6, to watch a film at a “movie palace” like San
Francisco’s Castro Theater or Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater. General admission
is $11. (Castro matinees are $8.50; Grand Lake’s cost $6.)

Grading

Midterms (10% x 3)30%

Exhibits (15% x 2)30%

Final Project 10%

Homework20%

Demo Days and in class assignments10%

Attendance Policy

Missing class, or attending class unprepared, will
significantly affect your final grade. If you do miss class, contact a
classmate to find out what we discussed in class and ask to borrow her or his
notes. Then, do the same with a second classmate. After doing this, if you
still have questions about missed material, visit me during office hours or
email me.

Wed, 2/10: Read
Ellen Gruber Garvey, “Reframing the Bicycle: Magazines and Scorching Women,” in
The Adman in the Parlor: Magazines and
the Gendering of Consumer Culture, 1880s to 1910s (1996), pp: 106-134.

(* Extra credit
opportunity: On Thursday, February 11, from 11:40 am - 12:40 pm, in the Getty
Lounge, David Silver will give a talk titled “The Farm at Black Mountain
College.” To collect extra credit, attend the talk, write a one-page reflection
about the talk, and turn it in to class on Friday, February 12.)

(* Extra credit
opportunity: On Wednesday, March 2, there will be a film screening of “The Yes
Men are Revolting” (5:30 pm, Fromm Hall). To collect extra credit,
attend the film screening, write a one-page reflection about it, and turn it in
to class on Friday, March 4.)

(* Extra credit
opportunity: The 14h Annual USF Human Rights Film Festival runs from Thursday,
March 31 to Saturday, April 2 at Presentation Theater. To collect extra credit,
attend a film screening (or two), write a one-page reflection about the film,
and turn it in to class on Monday, April 4.)

3.I am nearly certain that at some point in the
semester I will establish a rule about phone use in class – barring it,
limiting it, mocking it. Using your devices in non-creative ways during class
is distracting. It’s also obnoxious. Set it down. Set it away.

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i am an associate professor of environmental studies and urban ag at the university of san francisco. i live in oakland with sarah and our daughter siena. contact me via the email address listed on this page.